Soyoung Jun

Plaque 1
acrylic on wood board
10 ¾ x 13 3/4 in.

Plaque 3
acrylic on wood board
13 3/4 x 10 ¾ in.

My grandmother, who passed away at the age of 93, was an amazing woman. She enjoyed wearing high hills even though her legs weren’t functioning, and prepared hot water for tea even though no engagement was in her book. She never gave up and was always proud to be a “woman.” Her spirits were always high even when her physical conditions were failing her.

My work resembles my grandmother’s “artifacts of life,” which were the source of her pride and pleasure. I want my work to be a trophy for women like my grandmother, who take pride in their role, especially in their domestic sphere.

My work method is labor intensive. It is calm and requires patience and loving skill. It is not immediately recognizable, but appreciated on close inspection. I recreate the deprecating qualities of domestic labor in our society. At the same time, I celebrate wemen’s role in our culture and evoke appreciation particularly for women’s domestic labor.

The silhouette images pose an ambiguous question to viewers: “Are you going to be just an artifact or are you going to imbue your artifacts of life with pride as you get older?” Because of the oppressive social norms about aging, particularly for women, aging may debilitate women beyond its physical manifestations. Therefore, through my work, I want to portray and enable women to become active creators of life artifacts with pride in the age-phobic culture. – Age: 39

© Soyoung Jun